


The Passing of Time

by SunlightOnTheWater



Series: Sons of God and Daughters of Man [5]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Nephilim
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-03
Updated: 2014-03-03
Packaged: 2018-01-14 06:06:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1255657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunlightOnTheWater/pseuds/SunlightOnTheWater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Dean turns twelve John takes him hunting which results in Sam being introduced to Balthazar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Passing of Time

The year Dean turned twelve John decided he was old enough to learn to hunt. Michael didn't agree, Dean hadn't even come in to his gifts yet, but he doubted Winchester would be willing to take a stranger's advice about the boys he thought of as his sons. Dean agreed with Michael but not because he thought he was too young to hunt. No, he was worried about Sam. That left it to the archangel to come up with a solution. That was how Balthazar got dragged more deeply into the whole situation. "You want me to do _what_?" the angel asked.

"Watch Sam," Michael repeated, exasperated.

"Why?"

"Because John, the idiot, thinks Dean is old enough to hunt," the archangel answered.

"Really? He's still a fledgling," Balthazar said. " _Humans_ ," he added scathingly after a moment. "Always getting ahead of themselves. Fine, I'll keep an eye on your youngest while you're making sure the moronic human doesn't get your oldest killed. Happy?"

"Ecstatic,"Michael replied dryly. "Can't you tell?"

"Ha-ha," Balthazar said in the same tone. "Very funny. I assume you're going to do the honor of introducing us."

"You do know what humans say about assuming things, right?" Michael asked before allowing his wings to take him away from the other angel and back to his children. Neither Dean nor Sam looked particularly startled when he appeared. John had left an hour ago to interview some witness a town over and both boys had already figured out Michael would never show up when the man they thought was their father was around. Sam waved at him and then turned back to his homework.

"Honestly Michael I think I liked you better when you didn't understand sarcasm," Balthazar complained suddenly as he landed, completely visible, in the middle of the hotel room. That did get a reaction. Sam rolled off the bed, dropping behind it to shield himself from view,and Dean dove for a gun. The boy probably would have put a round in Balthazar in principle alone if Michael hadn't shaken his head and the boy still looked tempted. That was why he crossed the room and took the gun. Despite how amusing it would be to see the mouthy angel get shot by a little kid, the sound of the gun being fired might draw unwanted attention.

"I don't think your opinion has much sway here," he replied calmly and carefully put the safety back on before placing the gun on a side table. "Dean, Sam, this is Balthazar." Sam peeked curiously over the bed but didn't move as Dean studied the angel. After a moment he seemed to decide the other angel was relatively harmless and turned to Michael.

"What is he doing here?" the older boy asked as Sam clambered back on the bed, obviously deciding that if nothing was going to put him in danger he might as well go back to his homework.

"He's going to be watching after Sam when John drags you off on hunts," the archangel explained. Dean studied the other angel skeptically while Sam looked up at the sound of his name. 

The younger boy also studied Balthazar intently but less judgmentally. "Hi," Michael's youngest son said at last before turning back to his homework instead of waiting for a reply.

"Fine," Dean conceded at last, warily sitting down and turning back to his homework. At sunset John returned to pick up Dean and the two of them left with Michael in tow. Everything went as smoothly as a hunt possibly could and Michael returned Dean to Sam unharmed. After that first night they fell into a pattern. The nights John was going to bring Dean on hunts Balthazar showed up an hour early. He settle in next to Sam, invisibly, while Dean got ready and mother henned after the younger boy who tolerated the entire situation with amused fondness. Sam had a sixth sense of a sort, always seeming to know when one of the angels was around. Because of the demon blood forced into his system, the grace inside him was more active and trying to destroy the unwanted influence. This meant it also reacted slightly to either of the angels graces, letting the younger boy know they were around.

John would return from whatever last minute research or set-up he'd set off to do and, after carefully checking the wardings, he would take Dean, and inadvertently Michael, and head for the location of the hunt. They would return hours later, always to the sight of Sam curled up on a bed with Balthazar settled invisibly next to the boy. The angel would stick around until Dean was clean and settled exhaustedly next to his brother. Then Balthazar would shoot Michael an ironic salute and vanish back to whatever he'd been doing before the archangel had called him. The system worked well and though Dean still fussed and glared suspiciously at Balthazar there was a wary building of trust between the two that was only strengthened by every return that Michael's older son found Sam safe and asleep.

Months passed and both boys grew. Sam turned eight in May with little fanfare and then, too soon it seemed, it was January again and Dean was turning thirteen. That was when John had the brilliant idea to take Michael's oldest on a hunt that was a little more complicated than the standard salt and burn. The hunt involved a shapeshifter and despite Michael's best efforts, Dean still came out battered and bruised. Sam's expression turned haunted for a few days and even the unshakeable John Winchester seemed shaken by the event and they traveled around, not settling in one place to enroll in school, until four months after the event a hunter who ended up dead two days later told John Winchester that a man named Bobby Singer in Sioux Falls, South Dakota might know what had killed Mary.


End file.
